In The Spotlight

In light of the current national debate about transfer rules in intercollegiate athletics and other restrictions on the eligibility of college athletes, The Drake Group believes there is a need to acknowledge and define the basic rights of college students who participate in intercollegiate athletics.

Absent an antitrust exemption, which only the Congress can provide, the NCAA will continue to be the target of antitrust lawsuits whenever it tries to implement educationally defensible reforms that have commercial consequences.

In April of 2015 the Big Ten Conference circulated a white paper, Education First, Athletics Second: The Time for a National Discussion is Upon Us, that proposed freshmen ineligibility for Division I football and men’s basketball players. The white paper argued that freshman ineligibility would benefit athletes academically, but that it should only apply to […]

There is a current debate concerning the responsibility of the NCAA to afford college athletes protections against academic fraud and misconduct, as has occurred recently at the University of North Carolina, Syracuse University and other institutions of higher education. The NCAA reports that it has 20 academic misconduct cases currently under investigation, compared to just […]

The recent unsealing of nearly 500 pages of documents in Todd McNair’s defamation lawsuit against the NCAA has once again put a spotlight on the dysfunctional NCAA enforcement system. The Drake Group, a national organization of college faculty and others has been studying the NCAA enforcement system for the past several years. Today, The Drake […]

The Drake Group has released a position statement in support of a bipartisan-sponsored bill being considered by the 114th Congress (H.R. 275) that would establish a Presidential Commission “to identify and examine issues of national concern related to the conduct of intercollegiate athletics and to make recommendations for the resolution of such issues.” Drake Group […]

The Drake Group has released a position statement today that proposes an educational alternative to “athlete employees.” Drake Group President Gerald Gurney, stated, “Intercollegiate athletics is at a crossroads on the issue of paying college athletes. Should collegiate athletics be a mini-version of the NFL and NBA? See Drake’s Position Statement for a viable alternative.

The Drake Group specifically calls for individual student tuition bills that are fully transparent listing the amount of the student fees and other general fund subsidies being used to fund athletics. David Ridpath, Chair of the Drake Student Fee Working Group, points to the fact that “This is an issue of access to higher education. […]

The Drake Group, a national organization of college faculty and others has released a position statement today that is highly critical of the NCAA Division I Governance proposal to give the five richest conferences in its Football Bowl Subdivision the freedom to make their own rules and is calling for a blue-ribbon U.S. President’s Commission […]

April 3, 2014 West Haven, Conn. — A professor who specializes in early modern French history at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and played a significant role in exposing the biggest academic/athletic scandals at an American university will be awarded the Drake Group’s highest honor on Thursday, April 24, at noon. Jay […]

Drake Member Receives National Humanities Medal

Stanley Katz, a Drake Group member, as well as a member of the Drake Group Advisory Council, was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama in 2011. Mr. Katz is the Director for the Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University. Full Biography...

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